Our gorgeous orchids

By Al Lowe
Contributor

When we think of orchids, we usually equate them with Hawaii, to South America, but not with Northern Ontario. But we do have some and, like orchids all over the world, they are our most beautiful and unusual flowers.
Our orchids come in the form of Lady's Slippers, and there are several of them. None are very common, but once in a while, you can find (or you used to be able to) a place where several grow together.
Most of these flowers have a very special shape. The lower part of the flower (the pouch) is shaped like a slipper. This sticks out from the plant and is usually highly coloured - pink, yellow or sometimes white. There are usually some petals and sepals behind the pouch, and a different colour from it. Several species can be found in northwestern Ontario.
By far the most spectacular of them is the Showy Lady's Slipper. The sepals and petals are white, the pouch is mostly rosy pink. The flower is large, maybe 2 inches or more in length, and sometimes several are on the same stem. It is found in eastern Canada and down into the U.S., usually in swampy areas or moist woodlands. Quite often several species will be found in the same place.
Another large one is the Moccasin Flower, or Pink Lady's Slipper. This one has a large pouch also, but it is completely pink (once in a while white). The sepals and petals are purplish, and somewhat curled. This is the most common of our orchids, almost always found in the acid soil of the woods.
Then there are the yellow ones. This time there are two, a fairly large one and a small one. They are quite a bit alike, with yellow pouches, and brownish petals and sepals.
And there are some really rare ones. The Small White Lady's Slipper grows only in the open and only in small areas of Manitoba and Ontario. The Sparrow's Egg Lady's Slipper, and the Small Round-leaved Orchid grow way up to the North.
And there are some species which grow only in the north. In this part of Canada, they are at the southern limit of their range. The Sparrow's Egg Lady's Slipper, and the Small Round-leaved Orchid are two of them.
There are some rather odd things about most of these plants. They are always pollinated by bees. The bees are attracted by a smell like that of nectar (which isn't there at all). The bee gets into the pouch, but he can't get out the way he came in. There are a couple of small holes at the end of the pouch which he can just barely squeeze through. In doing this, he leaves some pollen on the female part, and picks up some new pollen from the male part.
Another funny thing is that the seeds are extremely tiny, and can't grow by themselves. They have to have a special fungus, found in the earth where they grow. Because of the need for this fungus, it may take from 6 to 16 years for the seeds to start to grow.
Most of our orchids are under some form of government protection. Since it is very difficult to transplant them, and almost impossible to grow from seed, leave them alone.
If you want to see what they really look like, look for Dorothy Black's paintings of them. These are about as close to the real thing as you can get.